Do You Smell That?

What is in a smell? Sometimes, nothing worth smelling. Sometimes, trivial things like supper cooking, freshly cut grass, lemons, household cleaners. We take smell for granted so much- at least I do.

Until those days when you catch a fresh whiff of something that you can’t quite put your finger on, but are transported back in time. All of a sudden there you are in that moment from so long ago, and the nostalgia nearly swallows you whole. This morning, I was stepping in the shower in my bathroom at home one minute and at my grandfather’s lake house almost instantly. All of those summers’ passed came rushing over me like a tidal wave of memories and emotion. I saw my brother and me running, feet clad in flip flops, down the long and twisting hill to the dock. The grass was so thin under our feet, but oh so green. Rocks and little pebbles lay all along the path, so we had to be careful not to trip. The dock was old wood- many years of wear and tear yet still sturdy. We would feed the fish in the morning with the bread my grandmother sent down with us. Pretty soon, there would be a school of fish all around us. We laughed and laughed and laughed in the early morning summer sun, ready for a full day of childhood fun. We splashed in the lake, played on the jet skis, skied and tubed until the sun just began to set. Then, we would all load up in the “big boat” as we called it then, and cap the day off with a little drive around the coves.

I am still smelling my sun tan lotion as I snap back into reality and realize, 10 + years have come and gone and the lake house was sold years ago.

Thank you Lord for those smells. You know the ones. The ones that take you back in time. The ones that make you remember, appreciate and be ever so thankful to God for all that He has blessed you with!

I wish I had pictures, but I don’t think we do. Fortunately, memories are with you a lifetime.

It's Finally Here!

Wedding season has finally arrived! I have been waiting almost a year for the celebrations to begin for my brother and Clary, and the time is now upon us!

Friday night marked their very first shower, which ended up being a Tool and Garden Shower given by Clary's aunt. It was so much fun, and at the most adorable barn! The setting was just beautiful, and we had such a great time with each others family.

Cute Table Decorations- Fresh Flowers, Lemons and Limes!

Gifts - What Everyone Looks Forward To!

GrandParent's Table

My Parents

My Sweetie and Me

Bride to Be!

Family

Mr. and Mrs. Phillips (in alittle more than 3 months!)

Group Shot of Kids/Young Adults

Day Dreaming

Stuck Here . .



Dreaming of Here . .

Happy Monday All!

What a Difference a Day Makes

Finally! A dream has come true for the Gold family. We have stepped it up in the world, and invested in a king size bedroom suit . . FINALLY! This is a really big deal for us :)

But, the transition of bedrooms did not go super smooth.

These photos are dark because I took them on my phone. Anyway, I was assisting Jase in holding the mirror that was attached to the dresser. As he was unscrewing a screw, something happened that he let go of the screw driver which subsequently flew out of his hand and hit me in the mouth as well as this spot on my arm. I may or may not have cried alittle. It was worse than it looks :)

Looking closely, you can see that Jason is missing a sock. Not even 5 minutes after the screw driver escapade, as we were moving said dresser, I did not realize we were breaking for a minute. The end result was the corner lifting up Jason's toenail. Gross I know. It didn't rip it off or anything, though you would have thought that by his reaction. Then again, he didn't cry like others of us.

Moving on . .

Our bedroom looks alot different empty. The plan was to move our old bedroom suit to the guest bedroom. Last weekend, we got rid if the Jason's old bed from college that had been in guest bedroom, so all we had to do was get the bed, dresser and night stand moved from the master bedroom.

Easier said than done. What a mess! And, I had to leave things undone like this Friday night until our new stuff came on Saturday.

Thankfully, the delivery men came early :)

Again, these pics are coming off my phone and they are horrible!

Guest Bedroom-

So, all is well and put back together in the Gold house tonight.

My view isn't bad either-

;) Night Night.

Simple is as Simple Does

Last night I began to spread my exploratory cooking wings, if you will. I can cook, when I choose to. Lately, it seems like Jason and I are on 2 different schedules, so cooking has been tough. But, hopefully we are getting to the other side of such a busy season. Last week we ate no evening meals together!! Had to change it up this week!!! :)

A couple of things to note-

1. I have been very much in tune to the royal wedding, as I am sure has most of the free world, these past weeks. I was looking online at some old pictures of Kate and commented to my soon to be sis in law how much more toned she looks now versus a year ago. She shared with me the diet Kate was on (website here ) and just some general info about it. Of course I had to try :)

2. After research and careful consideration, I decided to kind of personalize the diet with a more reachable expectation of myself- plus I had to get Jase on board, and he wasn't following Kate's diet.

3. We are eating healthy, not buying junk (makes grocery shopping a breeze) and exercising in hopes of having more energy and looking more toned up!! Bathing suit season is upon us!

Back to last night's dinner . .

I found this recipe which ended up being GREAT! I even took some pictures of the meal in progress, which I am most impressed with myself about!

Spices, Olive Oil and White Wine . . EASY!!!

Gross. I HATE raw chicken and handling it. I washed my hands so many times they were literally bleeding last night around my knuckles.

Throw in alittle roasted squash and zucchini and YUMM O!

It was easy and delicious- a great combo!

Tonight's Menu- steaks, grilled veggies and roasted sweet potato fries. I realize the fries are not good at all, but better than a loaded baked potato, right?!

Incase you haven't noticed, I do things in small steps :)

Reality Overload

I have been feeling a heavy conviction as of late as to what I do with my spare time at home. Believe it or not, there isn't a tremendous amount of this "spare time", but enough that I believe what I am choosing to do with it is all wrong!

I am a reality TV junkie. Give me a reality TV show on just about anything and I am game to watch. Usually hooked immediately. I am ashamed to admit this because in the past the TV line up in the Gold household has included the likes of Jersey Shore (yikes! I know). It gets worse. Try 16 & Pregnant, Teen Mom and Real World on for size! Wow, I am so embarrassed as I sit and type this! If that doesn't suit your fancy, let's switch to the Bravo network where I indulge in any of the Real Housewives shows, Million Dollar Listing (I like to think I am picking up pointers for work!), Bethany Getting Married and her new show and sometimes Rachael Zoe if there is absolutely nothing else on. Lets move on to mainstream- Survivor, Big Brother and American Idol.

Isn't that ridiculous?! And, not to mention the fact that anytime I have seen an Amazing Race advertisement I tell Jason that we need to give that show a try. I mean REALLY??!! Reality TV overload over here. And let me throw in alittle disclaimer here- hubby participates only in Survivor, AI and Big Brother.

But, sometimes reality TV will surprise you. Last night, we were watching Survivor. One of the contestants, Matt, is a professed Believer and has really tried to share his faith with others, be an example, etc. By all accounts, he seems to be the real deal. Last night, Jeff asked the contestant who lost at Redemption Island (and had to go home) what her story was. She explained that like many Americans, her home was in foreclosure and she came to play for the $. Well, obviously at this point, her being out of the game and all, she wasn't going home with any cash. But, she did tell Jeff that Matt had been such an inspiration to her that she couldn't wait to get home so that she could find a church. BLESSINGS!!!

Lesson learned- you never know who is watching you and what they are taking away!

So, back to the problem of too much TV - I am working on that. Small steps! :)

Saturday Fun

What a beautiful Saturday! Though it began kind of cloudy and alittle cold, the clouds cleared off after lunch and the sun came out!

I was lucky enough to have my hubby home with me today, so after some running around this morning we spent the better part of the evening here -








Rigging up my new pink rod


Testing the bait!


The fish like it! I didn't want to touch the fish, so I was trying to take the picture while Jason held it next to me . . Great shot huh?!


Here is what he looked like


Beautiful trees. . The wind was blowing and you could hear the wood creek and crack as they swayed back and forth. Enjoy God's beauty in creation!!!


A duck landed across from me. .


Finished strong! This is Herbert. We got to know one another while we waited on Jason to come from about a mile (ok, maybe not really that far) across the pond to get him off the hook. Herbie, as he preferred to be called, was very patient and splashed around with the hook in his mouth until help arrived. I am not touching these live fish.

I won our little competition. 2 fish to 1 ! To be honest, it was not really a competition until I was winning :)